Convincing him
by Dark Nothing
Summary: After the war, he couldn't stay. But now, he's back in Konoha. And he'd vowed to himself that he would win his blond Dobes heart. Couldn't be too hard now, could it?
1. Chapter 1

Sasuke Uchiha stared at the Hokage Monument with a somewhat nostalgic look. It had been five years since he'd last seen it, and now, there were six faces were situated in the stone instead of four. The face of the fifth hokage, Tsunade, seemed to stare down at him with anger and dissappointment, but Sasuke was pretty sure that was just his vivd imagination, so he let his gaze graze the last face on the mountain. As his eyes roamed over the familiar features, the Uchiha nearly sighed. The face was handsome, even if it was captured in a moment of seriousness despite it's owners ususal cheerful attitude. But time changes people, Sasuke assumed and continued his observation.

He stood in front of Konoha's main gate, waiting fort he ANBU to come and get him. Since he was counted as a missing nin, the barrier surrounding the village should have reported him to it's caster's, who in turn were committed to inform the Hokage. Now that he thought about it, he'd crossed the barrier's borders nearly six minutes ago. Why, he wondered, why hadn't the ANBU showed up already? Didn't they see him as a threat? At that thought, the Sharingan wielder snorted. As if. They definetely vowed him as a threat, as much he knew. He had killed Orochimaru and Itachi – both may've been enemies of the Leaf, but Sasuke had been the snake Sannin's apprentice before, and right after his revenge on Itachi, he'd been told his Aniki's true story and instead of returning to Konohagakure, had decided to to barge in the Gokage summit to kill the person who ordered his brother to slaughter his own clan. But after he completed that goal, too, he still had been unable to forgive the Leaf. And so, he'd once again turned into the wrong direction, attempting to detroy Konoha and, while he was on it, finish off his ex-teammates and sensei too. But before that could happen, the 4th great shinobi war had begun and thus, he'd had the chance to talk to his brother and the previous Hokages, and, at long last, had come to aknowledge a few things, getting his facts straight and had finally asked himself what he'd been doing all of his life. He'd spent his entire time focusing on his hatred, had shut out the light and vowed his life to darkness, revenge and death. Not once had it occured him that maybe this particular way of gaining power wasn't the best. He still wasn't able to admit it aloud. But that didn't matter. Finally, he had come into terms with what he had decided would be his new purpose in life.

A movement before him caught his attention, not really catching him off-guard, just surprising him a bit. Even if he knew it was stupid, he'd kind of convided himself that no ANBU-welcoming comitee meant that he still was welcome in this village he once called home – and wished to call home again. „Sasuke Uchiha, S-class criminal, user of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. You are no longer welcome in this village or country. I am here to imprison you. I don't wish to fight, and if you let yourself be captured peacefully, it will be counted in your favor. Tuck your hands behind your head and leave your Sharingan turned out."

Sasuke listened to that voice, that beautiful, influeting voice he'd longed to hear for so long. As he followed the orders given by that voice, he lifted his gaze and locked it with the oen oft he man standing a few feet away from him inside the village. The colour and intensity of these eyes still managed to shock him every single time he saw them, still managed to make him search through him vocabulary in order to find words good enough to describe them, the way they shone everytime the sinobi they belonged to felt a strong emotion, the way their coulour seemed to change to match his mood, these eyes that, for once, were unreadable for the pale boy who had given up his security and exposed his vulvernable underbelly to show he wouldn't try to pick up a fight.

After all, the only reason he'd come back, the only reason he would want to stay because of, was the person those eyes belonged to. Naruto Uzumaki.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys!

Sorry, I skipped that whole Author's-note-stuff last time. Doesn't affect the story and your liking for it, does it?

Angry plot bunnies inside my head demanded to write that story of me, so, for the sake of my sanity, I decided to upload „Convincing him". This story will mostly be written in Sasuke's P.O.V., but I guess you figured that out already – sorry again for leaving it out in the last chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I also forgot that one… ‚Naruto' belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Yeah… Do you have to remember me constantly?

**Warnings: **None so far…

Okay, on with the story

-.-.-.-

Gray. A very likeable colour. Not one that screamed „Come and get me!", like orange, or red. An unobtrusive colour. One of Sasuke's favourite colours. Right after sky blue – or was it azur? Ceru-lean? Whatever –white, purple and black. But yeah. Gray was one of those colours which never hurt your eyes. A quiet colour. But right now… Sasuke hated this particular colour. After what felt like a week, but most certainly had only been a couple of hours, of stairing at a grizzled wall with a couple of pretty little scratches that looked like they came from the nails oft he prisoners who were in this cell before him. Sasuke hated this cell. It was not only painted in that ugly shade of gray he couldn't even describe, but it was appearantly also prepared especially for him. A good dozen seals were printed all over the steeldoor, some in case he tried to use his Sharingan on it, what was kinda funny considering that he was tied to the cold stonewall with chakra binding ropes. He hated them too. They made his wrists bloody while hurting his pale skin. He hated blood. Well, he hated havinghis own blood on himself. He hated being wounded. Being wounded meant being weak. In his opinion at least. The sound of the sealed door being first unsealed and then opened snapped him out of his musings and made him uncomfortably aware oft he fact that he was completely defenseless and exposed for any attack that might be thrown at him. He inhaled and exhaled in forced slow and steady breaths, while making sure he directed the Uchiha Death Glare™, at whoever had been sent to him. The glare, however, faded and was replaced by a smirk as the tied up shinobi realized who exactly stood in the doorframe.

A black tight-fitted long-sleeved shirt covered by a red robe with black flames shooting up from it's hem – the words Rokudaime Hokage written on the back, he guessed – , combined with the mandatory orange pants and black sandals covered the Hokage's body. His blond hair had the same lenght it had had the last time he'd seen it, and, covering his forehead, the forehead-protector was perfectly in place.

All in all, Naruto didn't look tense, but not relaxed either. He looked… aware and had his guards up, without showing off. Like a Kage was supposed to.

Instead of starting to talk, like Sasuke exspected, Naruto simply walked up to him until he came to a stop only a few feet away from him, still silent. The Uchiha grew curious.

„Dobe. What do you want?" Okay, probably not the smartest way to start a conversation with the person who held the power over his life. But the blonde answered nonetheless.

„Sasuke Uchiha, the council and I have decided that - after a probation of nine months – you will be considered a Genin of Konoha and are free to take part in the Chunnin exam, which is going to be held in this village in eleven months. If you do anything suspicious or if you contravene the rules of your probation, you will be imprisoned immediatly and you'll be put under trials. Me, in my function as Hokage, will be the one to watch over you during your probation time period." In other words, Sasuke would be around the blond Kyuubi container at least three hours a day and thus had plenty of opportunities to get the Dobe to love him. „Do you have any questions or do you disagree with the decision the village made?" An absolutely political question, of course no prisoner disagreed if they valued their lifes. But still…

„I have one question indeed. Why haven't I been sentenced to death?" The Hokage gave him a blank stare.

„We decided in your favor." Sasuke inwardly grinned. That meant that Naruto had been on his side during the discussion over his life. No one else but the Hokage was able to go against the council. And the Uchiha was pretty sure that even his fiercest defenders weren't on his side anymore, and even if they were, that they'd be outnumbered. That fact gave him a nice bit of hope he hadn't had when he came to the village. For now, however, he knew he shouldn't push his luck. He nodded once, never taking his eyes off of the jinchuuriki before him. Naruto nodded in return and after the next purely formal question – „Do you agree to the rules of probation?" – which he answered the same way, - with a quite respectful „Hn" – the blonde took off the ropes and motioned to Sasuke to follow him. Sasuke stood up, stretched and rubbed his wrists gently. Naruto's continued formal attitude started to worry the raven, even if he didn't show it. He was an Uchiha – and Uchihas didn't express feelings. And that was that. So, Sasuke climbed staircase after staircase behind the stoic blonde, all the while plotting his plan to make the Dobe fall for him. He didn't know how to start yet, but being the genius he was, the only thing he needed to do was to spend a little time thinking about it. On the other hand, he'd already spent a ‚little time' trying to work out a plan in that damnable gray cell and still was as clueless as before about it. Sasuke sighed softly. In ordert o give his mind a bit of time to reorganize, he focused his attention on his surroundings. From the view he had when he looked out of the many windows, he figured they were close to the highest floor oft he Hokage Tower – and they had to be in the Hokage Tower, since the dungeons for the most dangerous criminals were practically the cellar of it. That in returned made him question why in the hell they were going all the way to the fucking top floor.

„After you signed your papers, including an agreement to your current ninja rank, you will be escorted to the Hokage mansion where you will live until you've become Chuunin." They walked down a corridor till they reached the door to the Hoakges office. All the while the gazes of seven ANBU followed them warily, ready to act at the slightest wrong signal from the Uchiha. Sasuke smirked. As if they'd ever be fast enough. But then again, he wasn't here to cast trouble. But if they came too close to him, or attacked him, he wouldn't hestitate to kill them all. The door in front of them was opened by Naruto, who motioned for him to go first. Sasuke stepped in the office, closely followed by a certain blond Dobe, and was mildly surprised as he saw Kakashi, Sakura and Sai waiting there. Moreover, he was surprised that he hadn't felt their chakra, nor did he feel it now. That was … a first. Then again, he hadn't activated his Sharingan, so he could blame it on that. Yeah. While Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, Naruto maneuvered himself behind his desk, not caring that he left the door open – oh. Shizune joined them whit a stack of papers in her arms and somehow managed to close the door behind her.

„Uchiha-san, would you please step aside? You are blocking the entrance." Sasuke did as he was asked. The secretary made her way to Naruto and set her burden down in front of him. Afterwards, she got behind the Hokage's chair and stood there, upright, staring at him like everyone else save for the Hokage himself. While Naruto started working in the papers as if there weren't five other people in the room, Sasuke inspected all of them and settled for staring at Kakashi – he was his former sensei, and the only one whose eyes didn't betray any emotion as he stared back at him. Perfect.

„Sakura-chan, would you heal Sasuke's wrists, please?" Naruto didn't look up – it seemed that he counted on Sakura to not make a fuss. Silence fell over them once more, only interrupted from the sound of the jinchuuriki's writing. Sakura looked a bit surprised, but not shocked as she heard Naruto's order. She left her spot between her ex-sensei and his replacement, took both his wrists between her hands and began to heal him without even as much as glancing at him. When she was done, she got back where she'd been before, and also trained her gaze at him. Since nobody talked to him, Sasuke started to feel a tad of nervouseness behind his unfazed and cold demeanor. Then, the writing stopped. Somehow, after being completely stripped of any noise, the silence was louder and more deafening than before. At least, until Naruto finally spoke.

„Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Sai. All of you are here because you'll be given the mission of watching Uchiha Sasuke during his probation. Usually, with such dangerous criminals, the Hokage is required to do this, but I'm afraid I won't be available 24/7. You three will cover that time up."

-.-.-.-

So, that's the second chapter. I hope you like it.

Reviews are really appreciated xD

Next chapter will most likely be up in three days.

By the way, I'm not sure if I should write a lemon into it in later chapters, but if, would you like SasuNaru or NaruSasu?

Let me know!

Dark


	3. Chapter 3

So, here I am again!

A big, heartfelt **thank you! **for the follows and faves! It's nice to know that there are people out there who want to read this story :D

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. Period.

Okay, on with it…

-.-.-.-

„What?!" Sakura's shrieking voice sounded like a train wreck after the calm words she protested against. „Naruto, you can't give us that mission! I don't want to do it!" Kakashi placed his left hand on her shoulder. „Sakura. I can understand how you feel perfectly fine. But if Hokage-sama decides to give us a mission of this importance, we cannot refuse. Hokage-sama", he turned to Naruto, „it will be a honor. Sai?" His replacement nodded in earnest. „I would complete any mission Naruto gives to me." With every word spoken, Sasuke's mood decreased. His plan… soiled!

„No." While neither the Dobe nor his secretary had spent much attention on the conversation, they clearly hadn't exspected for Sasuke to voice any protest, just like the other three.

Naruto's face became stony, his body strightened up. Sasuke may knew that he hadn't any say in the matter, but that didn't mean he couldn't try – „No one asked you, Uchiha-san. You are not to decide. Kakashi, Sai, Sakura. Do I have to find another team for this mission?" He pierced Sakura with his gaze.

„No, Hokage-sama.", the pinkette answered defeated. The other two nodded in approval. Naruto snoozed.

„This is an A-rank mission for the time of nine months. You also will move in the Hokage mansion for the time being – your rooms will be on either side of Uchiha-san's , the third on the opposite. You will move in tomorrow. You are dismissed."

„Hai." With a few quick handsigns, they teleported themselves away. All that was left were three clouds of smoke. Naruto stood up and gathered all the papers in his arms and handed them to Shizune. She bowed a little and rushed out of the office avoiding the Uchiha's squint. When she was gone, Sasuke stared at Naruto with such intensity that it surprised him that he hadn't blown the Hokage's head off.

If this three nuisances would watch over him, how could he ever hope to get the blonde? Especially with this new I'm-the-Hokage-don't-fuck-with-me-attitude? But Sasuke was, after all, an Uchiha. And Uchihas didn't admit defeat.

„Drop the act, Dobe." Once again, not the best way to start a conversation.

Naruto looked a bit surprised. He didn't respond, however, just walked out from his spot behind his desk over to him. Sasuke still stood as if rooted to the spot.

„Uchiha-san, would you follow me. We are going to go to the Mansion so you can shower, and afterwards, we are going to buy you new clothes." With that, he opened the office's door and went on his merry way, not giving away if he cared about Sasuke following him or not. While he also stepped out of the room, closed the door behind him and followed the Hokage out of the building, he pronded about how to make the jinchuuriki respond to him like a human and not like a robot. Staring holes in the blond boy's head, the Sharingan wielder slowly grew angry. How dare he to ignore him, dammit?

„Dobe, stop acting. I don't care if you have to play this facade with everyone else, but don't start it with me!" He made sure to speak quietly enough so that only the person the words were meant for heard them. They exited the Tower through the large double-door. Sasuke noticed that while every person who crossed their way looked at the Dobe with respect and loyality, sometimes even with awe, they gave Sasuke hateful glares, most of them mixed with fear, but a minority seemed to feel true anger towards him. Interesting. The exact opposite from their youth, when he still had been the Uchiha heir, the avenger, and Naruto had been the troublemaker, the Kyuubi-container everybody hated. Now he was the admired Hokage who saved them during the war, while Sasuke was the Uchihan traitor. Sasuke chuckled to himself. Who would have thought? He certainly not. If anyone had told him that he would regret to kill his brother or that he would fall in love with his blond ex-teammate, he would have either laughed in their face or killed them. Now, however…

The way to the Hokage Mansion was shorter than he had contemplated, which suited him fine. After Naruto had unsealed the entrance gate, they walked a small way through a nice, maintained garden, to a house that was even bigger than the main house in the Uchiha compound. Truly a mansion.

They entered the house that was protected by a good twenty ANBU guards. Once again, they all appearantly only had eyes for him. Sasuke smirked. He followed Naruto's example and took off his shoes in the hallway. Apart from the noise of their breathing, they walked down a long corridor lit up by the sunlight flowing through the windows in complete silence until they came to a stop at the bottom of a wide staircase, where Naruto stopped. He turned to face the raven as he motioned for him to climb the stairs.

„At the end of the floor above is a wooden door. It leads to your bedroom. Your bathroom is connected to it. Clothes will be waiting for you once you emerge from your shower. Put them on and then meet me in the kitchen. I guess you are hungry." With that, he turned to his right side, intent on leaving Sasuke to himself. Normally, Sasuke couldn't have cared less, but…

„Where is the kitchen, loser?" Naruto didn't even have the deference to halt his motion. „I'm sure you will be able to sense my chakra." Sasuke stood there, dumbstruck. Where the fuck was his usuratonkachi? He'd been so sure Naruto would be back to normal once they were in private! Then it hit him. Something very essential had been off the entire time he had spent in Konoha so far. The Dobe didn't protest against Sasuke's continued insults! He shrugged it off as if it didn't concern him at all! The hell? The war had ended barely seven months ago! How could the blonde have changed so much in such a short time? Especially considering the fact that he hadn't changed for nearly five years since they were twelve! And now he was like that! What the fuck had happened in those seven months? Sasuke shook his head. He had to think about this with a calm mind. Rushing things wouldn't lead him anywhere, and definetely not into the Hokage's pants. No. Wait. Wrong train of thought! He wanted to convince the usuratonkachi that he loved Sasuke just like Sasuke loved him. If he managed to do that, he'd get into the blondes pants automatically.

_I don't want him to think of me in disgust or anger, _the Uchiha thought as he made his way through the mahagoni door into his… bedroom? Damn, that room was big! A king sized bed with dark green silken sheets was situated in the center of the room, one nightstand on either side of it. The curtains that were pulled to either side of the giant window behind the bed had a crème colour and gave the room a brightness without being to intrusively. The wardrobe right next to another door that – so Sasuke assumed – lead into the bathroom, was definetely a walk-in, and made of the same light-coloured wood as the desk on the left side of the room. Sasuke closed the door behind him and took off all his clothes before he entered the bathroom, also positively way bigger than a normal bathroom should be. He turned the warm water in the shower on and placed himself under the spray his face turned upwards, eyes closed. He let the water soak his hair and body, relishing in the warmth it provided, and slowly relaxed. After a while he reached for the shampoo and massaged it into his dark mass of hair and his scalp all the same. When he was finished he rinsed his hair and thought about today's event's. First of all, Naruto himself had come to get him out of prison, instead of sending an ANBU. Then, no matter how much it pissed Sasuke off, he had given his ex-teacher, his ex-teammate and his replacement the mission of helping the Hokage to watch over him. That had to mean something, hadn't it? Then again, he also could have based his decision on the abilities of the three. Kakashi had the Mangekyou Sharingan, Sakura had the Byakogou, and Sai was an ex-member of ROOT, Danzo's special unit amongst the other ANBU. Plus, all of them were absolutely loyal to Naruto, even if Sakura once had been in love with him, she'd looked rather unappealed by the prospect of spending nine months very close to him.

_No, _Sasuke thought, _he didn't do it for me. He wanted to make sure that I'm attended to three of the best shinobi the Hidden Leaf has to offer, right with the Hokage himself. _

Rather depressed by this revealation, he started to clean his body from dust, sweat, blood and other unpleasant stuff. He turned the water out, exited the shower and dried himself with a fluffy white towel before he put another one around his hip and went into the bedroom once more. Naruto had obviously sent someone to bring him fresh clothes, a white shirt and black pants were on the bed, along with boxers and a black jacket. They clothes fitted him perfectly, and instead of questioning this, the Uchiha decided to simply be grateful for it. He concentrated on Naruto's chakra and pinpointed it to a room to his left under him, more in the center of the mansion.

-.-.-.-

After he'd walked through eight corridors, opened about thirty doors and nearly tore his hair out everytime he discovered that he still hadn't made any progress in finding the damn kitchen, he finally smelled a faint trace of tomato rice and, following the trace, he found the kitchen to discover that once) the Dobe himself was cooking and second) he only wore his wifebeater and the pants, everything else, even the forehead protector, was nowhere in sight. As he heard the raven enter the kitchen, he turned around and a small smile crept onto his face.

„Please sit down, Uchiha-san. The food will be ready in about five minutes."

Perfect. The Dobe would be putty in his hands once this dinner was over.

-.-.-.-

So, another chapter. Guys, in this story Sasuke can either be uke or seme if I write a lemon in it. If I decide to, which one would you like better:

Naruto x Sasuke or Sasuke x Naruto?

I'm able to write both, it depends on you, though.

Arigato to **JWolfcat**, who was so kind to write a review.

If you also decide to leave a review, please write your choice into it.

Thanks!

~Dark


	4. Chapter 4

Right on time :D

**Disclaimer: **If Naruto was mine- no, let's not start with that.

Nope, no warnings so far. They'll come, though…

Tanoshimo!

-.-.-.-

Sasuke examined his image in the body-length mirror of the store he and his invigilator were in and shook his dark head. No, those clothes didn't suit him, not at all. Of course, he didn't look bad in them – he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas didn't look bad in anything – but the dark red v-neck shirt and naviblue trousers weren't increasing his naturally good appearances, either. No, those wouldn't do. He changed back into the clothes he wore before and stepped out of the changing room.

„Are you finished already, Sasuke-kun? Haven't you found an appropriate outfit?" The Sharingan wielder Uchiha Death Glare'd™ at his replica. „What does it look like?", he hissed out and exited the shop quickly, intent on losing his watchdog – ha, as if – or, at least, making him run face first into the door that he had slammed, but no such luck. Seemingly, today simply wasn't his day.

Sai – that sickly-white-skinned weirdo who kept following him around like a lost puppy – kept asking pointless questions like „Are you angry? You look so" or, „Have I upset you? How, I'm wondering?" and, his favourite so far, „You Uchiha's don't like to talk, do you? Or probably you don't have good vacabulary. Let's go get you a dictionary!" At the last, Sasuke had whirled around and snarled „Get lost, you fucker". The people on the street were avoiding them, if it was because he was ‚The Uchihan traitor' as some had formulated it so nicely, or because of the killing intent oozing off him in waves, the ex-rogue nin wasn't sure – he suspected a mix of both – but since that damned dinner or lunch, more easily, The Fiasco, as he had dubbed it, he had been in a very, very foul mood.

_~Flashback~_

_After Naruto had finished cooking the rice and distributed it on two plates, he had set the food on the table alongside with two cups of green tea. He sat down on across from him and silently handed him a pair of chopsticks._

„_Itadakimasu" _

_Sasuke hadn't answered. He observed the Dobe like he would observe an enemy. He knew his Naruto had to be under the stoic mask of the sixth Hokage, even if he hadn't been acting like his usual anxious, hyperactive self with his former team. But perhaps that had been because Sasuke had been present, too. Maybe he was angry with him? No, in that case he would've shown it, wouldn't he? He wasn't the kind of person to put up an act because he was angry. Naruto had always shown his anger and had taken it out in a fight. Wait. That was it! Naruto and Sasuke's entire relationship was based on fights! They had started as enemys, softened to rivals and in the end had become friends. It was not a normal friendship, definetely not, but it was a stable one. And then, before they had had a chance to… okay, at the risk of sounding corny, before they had had a chance to become each others pillar, Sasuke had, plainly and bluntly, fucked up. He'd acted like a spoiled brat and had because of wounded pride left Konoha to go to Orochimaru. But even back then, Naruto had somehow managed to swallow his own hurt, his own disappointment in order to help Sasuke. And Sasuke… had tried to shutter his hopes, his dreams, his beliefs with hurtful, fudge words, had tried to sever the only good bond he'd had because of his false idea of obtaining strenght and power. He'd accused him of not knowing what he felt like, while in truth, the blond jinchuuriki was the only one who'd always understood him. But even after Sasuke's continued attempts to kill him, to crush him, the Hokage still had had the grace of lending the pale shinobi a hand, only asking for him to return home, to return to him, to return to being his friend. But Sasuke had proven himself unworthy of the blondes trust and friendship by announcing his new goal: The destruction of the whiskered boy's village. And even then, the Dobe had told him that he'd bring him back without killing him. He had still viewed him as a friend, a comrade. And as Sasuke had finally made a right decision, after meeting his revived brother and the resurrected four Hokage, and joined Naruto in his fight against Obito and Madara Uchiha, he had run again. When those beautiful blue oceans of emotion had looked into Sasuke's own, colourless ones, he'd once again chosen the easier way, had once again hurt the Dobe, and had once again single-handely ruined all of his plans, his ambitions. Sasuke swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. It wasn't the first time he had thought about this, but it was the first time that it hurt him so much, the first he didn't forbid himself to get emotional. He felt as if he was burning, and at the same time, his heart felt cold and a hollow ache had manifested in his chest. He couldn't breathe anymore. Not when the person he had done all this things to sat right in front of him, not looking at him but still making him feel exposed to the bottom of his scarred soul. _

„_Forgive me, Naruto" The words that were meant to come out in a strong and unwavering voice sounded like a harsh whisper, broken, desperate. They sounded as if he was begging. And indeed he was. Yet, he was an Uchiha – and Uchiha's didn't beg. They didn't regret their actions, they didn't care about anyone but them. But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to hold onto these characteristics of his clan. The same rigid characteristics that had lead to the downfall of the Uchiha clan in the first place. _

_At what under normal circumstances would have been a demand, those eyes which colour he failed to place every time he tried, imbued him with their intensity while his face remained relaxed and his voice stern. _

„_For what would I need to forgive you, Uchiha-san?" Ugh, so the Dobe wasn't going to help him with this whole apologizing stuff. Sasuke had never asked for forgiveness before, and he had never planned to give Naruto the power to destroy his heart, had never planned to get into a situation he wouldn't be able to control. Sasuke needed something to hold onto to make sure he didn't screw up. Not this time._

_The Uchiha heir swallowed the lump in his throat, blinked away the burn of unshed tears and locked his gaze with the blonde's firmly. _

_He wasn't entirely sure how – or where, for that matter – to start, but he knew he couldn't back out or shut himself off again. He wouldn't. It always made everything worse. This time, he would be brutally honest – and if he needed to apologize every single day for the next nine months, then so be it. Because to make Naruto's heart his and his alone, he had to regain trust he had no right of asking for. Only then he could even dare to try and make him consider to vowe him as more than a friend or comrade. He inhaled slowly to calm his racing heart that appearently tried to press a lifetime's heartbeats in this very moment. _

„_I want you to forgive me for all the mistakes I made in the past. I want you to forgive me for betraying your trust. I want you to forgive me for trying to kill you. I want you to forgive me for hurting your feelings. I want you to forgive me for my cowardness and ignorance. I want you – no, I need you to forgive me for all those things and so much more. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness after all I've done. But I still want it. I can understand it if you don't deem me worthy of your camaraderie or reliance again, let alone your friendship and trust, but I want you to know that I won't give up. I know all of my efforts are a far cry of the ones you strained. Nevertheless, I'll keep on trying. And I will give my best to proof you that I'm dignified of your trust. Please, let me try to mend what I broke between us."_

_Throughout his speech, Naruto's eyes had steadily widened. By the time he was done talking, they were about the size of saucer plates, full of surprise, relief but that, to Sasuke's irritation, growed rather quickly into disappointment and anger. No, his Dobe was most definetely not pleased with what he had heard. The raven didn't understand it. What had he done wrong? _

„_Really?", he spat. „You want me to forgive you? Well, let me tell you something, Sasuke. I _wanted_ you to come back to Konoha. I really did. So badly that I trained nearly four years in order to be able to beat you in fight, because I knew you'd only come back struggling and forced. During the war, you claimed that you wanted to become Hokage to ensure that something like the Uchiha Clan Massacre wouldn't happen ever again. You brought my hopes up so high, Sasuke. And then you let me fall. It's just the way you are, I guess. You seek power. Power over everything else. But not this time, Sasuke. This time, I won't be so weak. I refuse to let you mess with my feelings like this. I still know you, Sasuke. That's why I cannot trust you. You cling to your name, and the pride and power that comes with it. Let's see how far your pride will bring you." He raised from his seat, his chakra roaming from his tall and lean body, making the wood of the table and the floor crack slightly. „You were right. I was so naive back then. But believe me when I say I've grown up and opened my eyes." And with that, he vanished, leaving an uncharacteristically wide eyed and open-mouthed Sasuke behind._

_~Flashback end~_

Sasuke was still shocked, and… confused? No, that wasn't the correct word. Bewildered. Yes. That fitted. What had Naruto meant when he'd said _„Let's see how far your pride will bring you"_? What had his pride to do with anything? He'd said that he wanted Naruto to forgive him, hadn't he? The Dobe had absolutely no reason to deny him his wish. Of course, if he needed time to think over Sasuke's words, he would gladly give him time – not to much time, of course. Sasuke wasn't blind. He'd seen how the blonde's subordinates eyed him, men and women alike. It wasn't surprising. To be honest, it had only been a matter of time until everyone noticed what Sasuke'd always known: Naruto Uzumaki was absolutely gorgeous. With the tan skin, blond hair, blue eyes and the warmth and kindness that radiated from him wherever he was, people felt drawn to him. All the more since he'd shown his power and smartness, along with this strange and unique ability to change people's hearts. Unlike many other men or women with power, he didn't get corrupted by it, nor did he boast with his feats, he simply made sure that potential enemies knew that he could and would stop them from hurting his precious people. He cared for and protected what was his. Had Sasuke been a girl, he would've sighed dreamily. But he wasn't so he just lifted the corner of his mouth a little bit – the Uchiha version of a warm smile.

„Sasuke-kun? Are you planning to join the others at Ichiraku's?"

„What?" Lost in his musings, the raven hadn't paid attention where he was going, so his feet had automatically brought him to the one place in the village he usually associated with the jinchuuriki. He was about to tell the pasty-skinned creep that no, he would not go in there, when the choice was made for him.

„S-sasuke-kun, why don't you come and j-join us?", a shy voice – Hinata – asked him, barely audible over Kiba's angry growl of „Uchiha, get your ass in here, we need to talk." Fuck.

Sasuke grunted his trademark „Hn" and, knowing there was no way of escaping for him did as he was told, effectively covering up the uneasyness and awareness, along with a small, but but growing amount of tredipation he undeniably was feeling. To at least be a little safer, he intended to sit in the corner of the counter, but Shikamaru and Kakashi obviously had other plans. They grabbed his arms and forced him between them, motioning for Sai to sit on Sasuke's desired place.

Well, fuck.

-.-.-.-

I'm evil. Oh, yes.

Well, I asked you to tell me about your preference regarding the pairing in this fic. Until now, the NaruSasu shippers are leading. The lemon is planned for the sixth chapter, so yeah, you still have time to drop a review and your vote.

And a special thanks to Noleewut! You helped me a lot :)

Next chapter will be up in three days!

~Dark


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **You don't have to remind me constantly, you know?

**Warnings: **Sasuke will get a lecture. No lemon yet, though.

Thanks to _Hoytti,_ _darkhuntressxir _and _Noleewut _for reviewing!

-.-.-

Sasuke had seen many horrifying things in his life. The slaughter of his clan by the hands of his own brother, the snake sannin's experiments after they'd spent time alone with him in his labours, his little trip into insanity and, of course, his flirt with death while fighting Madara and Obito Uchiha during the 4th great ninja war. The most horrific things he'd seen had probably been during his life in Sound as Orochimaru's prodigy. In fact, he'd been fairly sure that after seeing what Orochimaru did to his other experiments save for Sasuke and a few others, there wasn't anything that the world might throw at him that could scare him anymore.

He had been wrong.

Sitting in the middle of Hatake Kakashi, the copycat ninja, Nara Shikamaru, heir of the Nara clan and a genius like the Uchiha himself, Inuzuka Kiba, the best tracker of Konohagakure no Sato, Hyuuga Hinata, heiress of one of the strongest clans of the village, Sai, a former ANBU good enough to replace Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, successor of the Godaime Hokage, who he first failed to notice, despite her ridiculously pink hair, was way scarier than anything he'd ever experienced. He might not show it, but inside, his hands were shaking while they pulled his midnight hair out. Okay, that was maybe a bit exaggerated, but definitely the closest he would come to describe what he was feeling without sounding like a bloody pathetic scaredy-cat.

"So, Sasuke", Kakashi started, and Sasuke nearly jumped in his seat, "I'll get straight to the point. If you hurt Naruto in any way, form or shape, every single one of us will be your enemy. Don't think for a second that we'd make the same mistake twice. All the other times you faced each other, even if one of us was present, we let him deal with you alone. This time, we refuse. We'll be by his side, guarding him as we should have been all those months ago. We, as Naruto's friends, won't tolerate you hurting him again."

His apathetic mask still perfectly in place, he replied, his voice low, cold and cutting, murderously so, "Are you threatening me?" Kiba barked a laugh. "Oh, that's hilarious! You think we're afraid of you? Let me tell you one thing, Uchiha", he growled, "The entire Inuzuka clan will be behind me and in consequence, after you, if you hurt fox-face. Understood?" Before Sasuke could give a retort, Sakura raised her voice over his condescending snarl. "Sasuke, I used to be your fangirl. I used to try to impress you every chance I got, even during missions. I neglected and hurt Naruto because of that. I neglected and hurt Naruto because I thought – just like you and everyone else here in the beginning – that he was a brainless idiot. I - no, we, we were wrong. Naruto is precious. He lived through so much. Let's face it, before he proved himself to the village defeating Pain and making him revive all the murdered ones, he lived his life in misery, even after turning us into his friends. I'll be honest, Sasuke. I don't think that you deserve such a warm, giving, loving and caring person as your friend. Not after what you've put him through. I don't want to imply that one of us could possibly understand him as much as you can, but, and I think everyone on this table agrees with me in one point: We will protect him from your cruelty. We're giving him our protection, we give him stability." Shikamaru, Hinata and Sai, who'd been quiet so far, all nodded in agreement, along with Kiba and Kakashi. "We won't allow you to hurt our precious person. I'm sure, if Ino, Chouji, Shino, Godaime-sama and Iruka would be with us, they'd say the same. We might not understand how it feels to be hated and scorned by everyone, how it feels to not know a mothers touch, a fathers pride at a young age, but let me assure you, Gaara does. And Gaara, and with him Sunagakure, stands behind Naruto. I don't know what motives drive you, and quite frankly, I don't care. But if you hurt Naruto, be aware that you won't get away with it unharmed." Her normally gentle green eyes were stone-hard and unforgiving, and as Sasuke looked around, six pairs of equally firm eyes greeted him, burning with passion and daring him to refuse Sakura's words. In that moment Sasuke understood the lengths each and every one of them would go for the Dobe. Kiba, Naruto's best friend, Kakashi, his mentor, Sai, the boy Naruto had given the ability to feel back, Sakura, the girl who felt the fierce, yet gentle love of a mother for the blonde, Shikamaru, a silent adviser and trusted friend and Hinata, the one who'd loved Naruto, who'd been almost obsessed with him, but whose obsession had cooled down to a desire to protect and care for the Hokage. Seeing all those emotions behind stony masks of coldness and barely concealed anger, something inside Sasuke snapped.

"Do you really think hurting Naruto is my sole purpose in life?" to them, it probably was but Sasuke cut Shikamaru off before he could even start to protest. "Believe it or not, the idiot is my best friend. Even when I hated him, I couldn't kill him. I tried, but in the end, I knew I wasn't strong enough to hurt the only person close to me. And I hated him. I hated him for being my weakness, for keeping me away from true power. I know now that I was wrong the entire time. He has shown me that darkness, hatred and despair aren't the only things that could make me stronger. I realized that by keeping and pushing him away I decreased my chances to gain true strength. Looking at him now, in his eyes, closed off to me, not letting me in because he doesn't trust me anymore, is killing me inside. I told him to forgive me, told him I knew I don't deserve him, but he just replied that his eyes were open and that he matured. I tried, dammit! But it didn't work! What am I expected to do, tell me!"

Well, not the way he'd wanted to let them know that he had no intentions of hurting the blonde, but he firmly believed he'd stated his point. Hinata looked at him bewildered, Sakura stared, Kiba snorted, Kakashi blinked and Sai smiled like the creep he was. The only one who actually answered him was the shadow user. "Troublesome", he muttered. With a tortured sigh he turned until he was facing the Uchiha, but unfortunately didn't somehow manage to speak again before getting interrupted. "Sasuke, you cannot really hope that we'd believe you. Some of us may hope that your words are true and your intentions pure, but you've done too much to be considered worthy of anyone's trust, let alone our Hokage's. You hated him, neglected him, tried to kill him… hell, you put a damn Chidori through his chest! Sasuke…" Kakashi trailed off, apparently at a loss of words for what to say. He didn't even as much as look at him, but his voice was thick with disappointment and disgust. "He deserves more than you. He deserves what you could have been had you only seen past your own desires and goals. Had you been a better person, no, a better friend, you would be not only his friend, but his adviser, his most valued and trusted friend. And, Sasuke, nothing you could ever do could ever make up for your past mistakes." With each word that had left his former sensei's mouth, Sasuke had become angrier, his chest had become tighter, but, in a way, he had also become calmer… like the calmness before the storm. But, once again, he was interrupted before he could even start to talk, only this time, it was Shikamaru who dared. "You said you told Naruto to forgive you, is that correct?" Sasuke was about to answer as Kiba and Sakura both butted in. "How does it matter?" or, in the mutt's case, "What the fuck do ya mean, Shika?" Sasuke grew slightly irritated. He wasn't used to getting interrupted, nor was he used to being scolded or lectured. But what irritated him most of all was that he hadn't killed them all yet.

"Shut up, both of you. Nara, what's your point?" Oh, great. He'd asked a fucking question. Something about this village made him do things he normally wouldn't do. He was sure of it.

"My point, Uchiha, is, that no matter what you say, as long as you don't say the right thing, Naruto will not hear you. Of course, he will listen, but he won't _hear. _You could talk seven days in a row, and he wouldn't interrupt you, but he wouldn't _hear. _So, what exactly did you say?"

"Sh-Shikamaru-kun, why a-are you helping S-Sasuke-kun?" And again, he was interrupted. Why didn't he do something about it? Oh, right, no killing during probation time. And why did he bother to follow the rules? Oh, right, if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to get his Dobe, preferably before Sai or any other human being.

"I'm not helping Sasuke, Hinata. I'm helping our friend, the blond idiot. You might not want to believe it, but Naruto – no matter how much he tries to convince himself and us otherwise – cannot be happy without Sasuke. He may be okay, he may be comfortable with his life, but he definitely isn't happy. He's…saturated. As saturated as he can be in this current situation. With us being his friends, his aides, his precious people, but none of us can give him what Sasuke can. We can give him friendship, not love." Sasuke froze. He knew that Shikamaru would eventually figure out what Sasuke was feeling if he saw him interacting with Naruto, but how had he done it without as much as listening to the conversation the others were having with him? Then again, Nara was a genius with an IQ over 200, so Sasuke decided he didn't need to be too worried.

Of course, that didn't mean that his other torturers had known. Damn.

Kiba snorted. "Oh, good one. The Uchiha-bastard, in love? Shikamaru, I didn't know you were capable of telling jokes!" Sasuke stared at him. A joke? A fucking joke? His feelings were no joke!

"I also think that Sasuke-kun is unable to love. Naruto taught me much, so did books, and I don't think that in one of them it's deemed possible for such a cold, revengeful person to feel a gentle, tender emotion like love. Lust, perhaps, but not love. Sasuke-kun, do you even know what love is?" The creep was weird, Sasuke decided. Weirder than Sakura, possibly. No matter who of them was the weirdest, they both annoyed him to no end. Naruto did this too, of course, but at the moment, his blonde Dobe was too busy playing I-don't-like-Sasuke-and-won't-forgive-him somewhere instead of doing what he was supposed to – making sure that Sasuke was bound to the village by something; or someone, preferably by Naruto himself. The raven smirked. Oh yes, he'd like that.

"Asshole! Are you even listening to us?"

"No, Kiba, he clearly isn't. Sasuke, did you really think Naruto would just shrug all of your past off and welcome you with open arms? A few months back he would have, with no doubt, but now, things are different."

"S-Sasuke-kun l-loves Naruto-kun?"

"Wh-what? Sasuke?"

Ignoring them all, Sasuke started to talk. It wasn't something he did on a daily basis, spilling his feelings and crap, but if he wanted his Dobe for him and him alone, he would have to take some advice – another thing he didn't do on a daily basis.

Something about this village made him do things he normally wouldn't do, he was sure of it.

"I told him that I wanted him to forgive me for all I'd done wrong. I told him that I needed his forgiveness. I even told him that I could understand if he distrusted me, but he just ignored my words and told me that he didn't want me back in the village anymore. Something about open eyes and how far my pride will bring me." Shikamaru looked at Sasuke in a strange way.

His next words, however, were something Sasuke could never have expected, genius or not. "Did you apologize?"

"What?" he was beyond furious now. Of course he had apologi- Fuck. Sasuke must've paled or something, because Shikamaru nodded in understanding. "You didn't apologize. You only voiced your wants. You didn't take Naruto's feelings into account. Doesn't surprise me, honestly. You've always been like that. Not caring about anyone but yourself. How troublesome." With that, the lazy genius stood up. "You guys can handle the rest, I assume." And with that, he was gone. Sasuke stared at the empty seat where Shikamaru had once been and was tempted to blow it off or burn it down, just make I disappear. But if he did that, he would break the damn probation rules and in consequence, he would be put under trial what would result in Naruto never forgiving him. Sasuke sighed. He couldn't have it easy in life now, could he? He shook his head. He'd made a mistake – another one on his ever prolonging list. He could fix this. He needed to fix this, before Naruto shut him out forever. As he made a move to leave the Ramen restaurant, instantly mirrored by Sai, Kakashi, Kiba and Sakura felt the need to threat him again. "If you hurt him, Sasuke, the Hyuuga clan, Nara clan, and Inuzuka clan will be after you, along with me, Sai and Sakura. This time, we'll stand behind him as we should've done always."

"I'm the best tracker of Konoha, Uchiha. If you do something – anything – to make Naruto sad, I'll have your head. I don't care if you're the last Uchiha. I'll hunt you down and kill you. Understood?"

"Don't hurt Naruto, Sasuke. He's sensible, emotional. I won't tolerate any misbehaviour from your side."

Sasuke nodded his agreement, did a few handseals – he was allowed to teleport inside the village -, not caring if Sai kept up or not, and teleported himself in front of the Hokage mansion. Sai was already there, Sasuke got predictable it seemed.

"He's on the training grounds at the back. Inside are enough ANBU guards, you won't need me from here, Sasuke-kun." As he smiled, he took a step closer, invading Sasuke's personal space. "Sasuke-kun, I know you've heard what the others had to tell you, but I'll tell you again: If you hurt our precious person, you'll not survive. Not this time. And no Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan will stop us." Sasuke looked at him and snarled "As if" before vanishing inside the house, his emotions in a turmoil.

He knew what he had to do. He had to apologize and make things right again. He walked through the mansion at a fast pace, nearly running, following his blondes chakra signature. When he came to stop in front of a sliding door, he was slightly out of breath, knowing he would, for the first time ever, apologize to someone. No, not someone. Naruto. He would apologize to the person he loved.

Sasuke smiled. Smiled, not smirked, as he opened the door, intent on greeting his idiot before suggesting a friendly spare. His plan, however, went down the drain as a fist made hard contact with his jaw, sending him flying backwards and connecting with the wall before sliding down to the floor. Sasuke stared up at Naruto, shell-shocked, but recovered quickly, his tomoes spinning.

-.-.-.-

Another chapter finished!

The next chapter will be in Naruto's P.O.V, revealing what he was doing while Sasuke got TnJ'd from his friends. The chapter after that will, finally, contain a lemon.

And, from the looks of it, it's going to be a NaruSasu one.

~Dark


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I thought about it. And I came to the conclusion that Naruto clearly isn't mine.

**Warnings: **None so far, I guess…

**Thanks to: **88888wwww, darkhuntressxir, sparrowhawk13, PD-8, Bb cream and ichigi111kurosaki for their reviews!

So, the sixth chapter of "Convincing him". Yeah. As always, the only thing I got to say is: Enjoy!

-.-.-.-

**Naruto's P.O.V.**

When he arrived at his private training grounds, he was haunted. Haunted, angry and frustrated, annoyed and disappointed.

"_I want you to forgive me."_

"_Let me mend what I broke between us."_

"_I won't stop trying!"_

Meaningless. That was all what those words were. Meaningless, worthless, insincere attempts to make him receptive, undetermined, no, to make him accept the arrogant bastard once more, to open his heart to him, that, after all what had happened to him in his crushingly lonely childhood still was tender, vulnerable and innocent, even despite his duties as Hokage.

For how could those words be anything but lies? No matter how desperately he wanted to believe in them, no matter how urgently he wanted them to be true, Naruto wasn't the same fool he'd been months ago. No, his judgement wasn't clouded over with the feeling of camaraderie he had towards the raven, nor was it nebulised with his almost blind making deep affection concerning that traitorous bastard. This time, instead of overlooking everything that could lead him to see underneath the underneath, to hear the hidden hurtful meaning behind supposedly friendly words, he'd listened intensely to his former best friends speech, had looked deep into the dark abysses that were his eyes and calmly observed his body language, all the while hoping despite better knowledge that Sasuke would finally let his destructive pride, his contemptuous attitude slide, and showing Naruto that there was a deeper, significant meaning behind his return to Konoha. 'Better late than never'. That's what they said, wasn't it? And, for a very long time, that was the blonde's opinion as well. He'd hoped, though he knew it would be in vain, that Sasuke would have a good reason, a fine purpose other than insulting his intelligence with such poor lies, striking his heart with such beautiful though empty words and hurting his soul with crushing the hopes he got up.

But of course, as he'd always done, Sasuke crushed his hopes, dreams and desires with his unfathomable eyes, his emotionless voice and arctic look. But, being Naruto, he'd searched for any signs of warmth, truth, sincerity in those coal black depths and found… nothing. Literally nothing. The Uchiha's face, void of any emotion, his demeanour, as if he were invincible, hadn't changed, just like his chakra that still was the same, so dark, cold, full of distrust. The hatred and insanity were gone, replaced by forcefulness and an icy fire that burned his joy right out of him, leaving nothing but defeated zest of life crushed on the ground.

Naruto had learned the hard way that Sasuke Uchiha was a being that had nothing to offer but spiteful selfishness and tainted egocentricity. He was ruthless, ignorant and condescending no matter if you were friend or foe, belittled everyone who wasn't an Uchiha themselves and cared only about himself, never supported anyone, wanted power above all and was, truth to be known, the perfect role model for a true Uchiha. He was a selfish, ice-cold bastard with an I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude towards his fellows, who thought himself better and higher than any other human or demonic existence; he didn't care about other's feelings, didn't care about dreams, and didn't care about anybody but himself.

How could Naruto have been so blind? He'd wasted so much time, so much energy on chasing Sasuke, he'd given the best he had and more, had spent weeks and months and years to train for their final encounter, because he thought he knew that Sasuke wouldn't come back on his own will, that he'd come only in chains and struggling the entire way, probably trying to take on the ANBU before threading every citizen of Konoha and then, after a long time, would eventually stop his pointless seek for revenge; for that was apparently the only thing that drove the raven: revenge.

First, his revenge against Itachi, then, his attempted revenge against Konoha and, finally, his 'change' after his last meeting with his older brother and his talk with the Shodaime; every epoch of his life was filled with revenge, hatred and darkness, when he could have chosen to stay in the village or, at least, to return after Itachi's death. The village had still loved him; still saw him as its crown prince. But when he hadn't come back, when he killed Danzou, that changed drastically. Konoha began to hate him and to see him as the traitor he was. But he was arrogant enough to believe that he still could become the Rokudaime, if he joined the Shinobi Alliance during its fight with Madara and Obito Uchiha. But apparently, he changed his mind once again. So, after they'd won the war, he left. Only this time, Naruto hadn't run after him. This time, Naruto had stayed strong, had accepted that he couldn't change Sasuke and had settled with his ex-teammate's departure.

Why was he back now? Did he really hate Naruto that much? Did he hate him enough to endure the village's hate and distrust only in order to hurt and torment Naruto?

He wouldn't be surprised.

**Well, I told you from the start, didn't I? **Naruto sighed. Damn, sometimes it was fucking annoying to have a giant fox sprit inside of him who could read all of his thoughts. It was as if he didn't have a private life.

**You don't have a private life. But don't worry, no jinchuuriki has one. **

_Well, not every jinchuuriki has an inconsiderate and perverted fox as a bijuu!_

Kyuubi snorted.** You call it perverted, I call it concerned about your non-existent sex-live. **

_Mind your own business, Kurama! _He sighed. _I don't have time for this. _

**You are my business, Naruto. I'm sealed inside you, remember? I got nothing better to do, by the way. And, while we're at it, it doesn't matter if you have time or if you don't, because you cannot ignore me. **Naruto sighed again. Of course he couldn't ignore Kurama, he'd never been able to do so before. And now, when he actually could need some good advice, he went and told one of the oldest creatures that existed to leave him alone.

Sometimes, he wondered if he really was this dense.

**Yes, you are. **Oh, right. It wasn't that he was dense, it was simply the fact that Kurama didn't take his problems seriously since they concerned humans most of the time.

**It's not the fact that your so-called problems are caused by humans. It's merely the fact that if you spend a bit of time trying to solve the problem, you figure out how to clear up any mess that was made. **

_Well, I spent nearly four years trying to find a way to 'solve' Sasuke. Did I find a solution yet?_

The fox was quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking over his words. Then he huffed.

**What exactly is the problem with Sasuke? Because the way I look at it, there isn't one at all. He hurts you, and you don't want to be hurt, so stay away from him.**

Naruto smiled sadly. _I tried. I didn't run after him when he vanished again, did I? I came back here, I became Hokage. I achieved my dream and he didn't exactly help me with it. But even now… The fact that I'm the leader of such a powerful village and quite powerful myself, doesn't matter. The fact that I vowed myself I didn't care about him anymore doesn't matter. Not even the fact that I know he'll only bring me pain does matter. A long time ago, he told me that I should stop running after him, give up my childish goal. And now, when I finally concentrate on myself, when I'm about to forget him, he comes after me._

Sasuke hadn't cared for him for so long. He'd shunned him, scorned him, and, quite frankly, only brought him grief. Naruto had always been the one begging for him to come back, to stop the cycle of self-destruction the Uchiha had started, to break the cycle of hatred Itachi had never wanted to form. Naruto was through with it. There was no point in trying to convince himself that Sasuke would one day have some miraculous change of heart. He'd waited to damn long already and was fed up with it.

**What about the villagers?**

Naruto shook his head, confused. _What about them?_

**They neglected you until you became strong enough to benefit the village, they hated you despite your innocence, they beat you up and hurt you just because they were scared of me and then, when you saved their asses time and again, they acted as if they'd always known your power and as if they had nothing to apologize for. Did one of them ever apologize? No. But you accept and love them nonetheless. How is the Uchiha any different?**

Oh, nice. Kurama knew perfectly well what the difference between the villagers and Sasuke were.

**There isn't any difference. You love the villagers, so you forgave them even though they did nothing to deserve it. You love the Uchi-**

_Shut up! _Naruto nearly screamed. No. He didn't love Sasuke. Not anymore. He couldn't. It was wrong in so many ways, and it had led to some near-death experiences he could've lived without having. Naruto was no coward. He'd known he loved Sasuke for a while now, and at the same time, had started to gainsay it. Because after all, there wasn't any use in losing himself in feelings that never would be returned. He didn't love Sakura; when he thought about it, it had more or less been an attempt to convince himself that he saw Sasuke as a friend, not as someone he could start a romantic relationship with.

**Naruto, **Kurama's tone was a mix of sympathy and frustration. **We've been over this. You love Sasuke. There's nothing you can do about it. I know you want him to apologize to you, but if you were honest with yourself, you'd admit that you only want him to show that he does care for you. **

_And since when are you an expert for my emotions? _

**I've practically been with you since you were born. I understand you better than you do yourself. And that's why I won't sit back and watch you getting hurt, even if you inflict the pain yourself. **

_That doesn't matter. I won't let him come close enough. _

**And you can tell Kakashi, Sakura and Sai to watch over him if you don't want to. They'll make sure that he won't break the probation rules, and, eventually, he'll leave you alone if you continue to show him the cold shoulder.**

Could anyone really blame him for protecting himself?

**Well, speaking of the devil. **

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He couldn't deal with Sasuke right now! Not when his emotions were in such turmoil.

Sasuke's footsteps were coming closer, his chakra signature was getting stronger. What should he do, dammit, what? He had to escape to calm himself down, but without a doubt, the Uchiha had felt his chakra by now and would easily be able to trace it anywhere he might flee to.

What should he do?

His panic-struck thought process was interrupted by Kyuubi, who, thankfully, was absolutely calm… to calm. But before he could find the time to wonder what the fox was up to, Kurama spoke up.

**Switch with me, Naruto. I'll handle this until you're in control of your facial expressions again. **

Sasuke was getting closer and closer, the distance between them became shorter and shorter, and Naruto's heart pounded wildly in his ears. He didn't know why exactly he was so panicked right now, probably it was because Sasuke caught him off-guard, but he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the situation without losing his composure.

His spirit stepped aside, took the place on the backseat and let Kurama control his body.

It was the best thing he could do.

-.-.-.-

And that's why Sasuke got a punch in the face.

So, I hope you liked it! I know I'm late, but school's killing me right now.

Drop a review? Please?

~Dark


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